Reliably Misinformed
by T. Z. Townshend
Summary: Some SHIELD agents have disappeared and no one seems to be able to figure out what happened to them. A certain minor British government official thinks it's a good idea to recommend his younger brother for The Avengers Initiative. Post-movie, Post-Reichenbach. T to be safe. Sherlolly with mentions of Pepperony, Clintasha, Logyn, and others.
1. First Impression

**A/N: Hiya! This is a multi-chap fic the idea for which popped into my head when I saw some Avengelock art on Tumblr. I know not many people are into crossovers and this is my first time writing something like this, so please bear with me. Feedback is much appreciated. Thank you and enjoy!**

**WARNING: Mild language**

Chapter 1: First Impression

When one is the world's only consulting detective, one tends to attract a certain amount of attention from the public for one's brilliance. When one is the world's only consulting detective with an elder brother who is practically the British Government, one tends to attract a different sort of attention from private entities. Sherlock Holmes discovered this quickly when an American named Phil Coulson showed up at his door demanding that he come with him. He agreed only out of boredom and curiosity, though he knew his brother was involved. A half an hour later, he found himself standing in Mycroft's office with his brother and an American wearing an eyepatch dressed in all black.

"Mr. Holmes, my name is Nick Fury. I am the director of SHIELD and I'm here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative." Fury held out his hand for Sherlock to shake, but he did not take it.

"The answer is no." the detective said and Fury raised his eyebrows. Mycroft grimaced.

"Brother, this is a matter of international importance." At this, Sherlock rolled his eyes.

"I have no interest in playing hero with your glorified police force." Sherlock drawled in response. He wasn't stupid. He had read the papers. He knew about the Avengers and how they had defended New York from an invasion. It all sounded very boring and thus not something he would want to be involved in. Besides, joining the Avengers and/or SHIELD would involve accepting a strict set of rules, rules that would damage the freedom he enjoyed so much.

"I anticipated that you would say that, Mr. Holmes. I have talked it over with your brother extensively. We could use someone like you. We need more clever people on our side and let me tell you, things can get _very_ interesting at SHIELD." Fury said. If it was distractions this man wanted, then he would find no shortage in NYC. From all accounts, Sherlock Holmes rivaled Loki in intelligence and Fury very much liked the idea of having his own, semi-tame Loki. He watched the British detective for a long while. Sherlock was thinking with his hands steepled under his chin. The director waited patiently. He knew he had to be careful not to irritate Sherlock any further if he wanted him to join the Avengers. Eventually, he got a response.

"I will join you on two conditions. One, you allow me to bring John Watson and Molly Hooper with me. Two, you allow me to return home when I am unneeded." the detective stated, causing Fury to grin.

"Is that all?"

* * *

John and Molly had no idea why they were suddenly sitting on either side of Sherlock in a private jet to New York City. All they knew was that their friend had been roped into some sort of American government operation and he had requested that they come with him.

"This has to be the biggest client we've ever had." John said, attempting to break the awkward silence. Sherlock let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Yes, a client that we will have to take orders from. SHIELD is not exactly known for giving its agents a great deal of freedom." John's eyes widened at the mention of SHIELD. Then he frowned and let out and exasperated sigh.

"Mycroft recommended you for the Avengers Initiative, didn't he?" Sherlock smirked at John's deduction, confirming it. "Oh God...what did they do? Bribe you with alien body specimens?"

"I managed to bargain for a lot of things that will make our little trip to America much more interesting." Sherlock replied, still smirking. He suddenly turned to Molly, a slightly annoyed look in his eyes. "What is it, Molly? You've been glancing at me nervously for the past hour. I know we've gotten past that sort of thing, so something in particular must be bothering you." Since his fall three years ago, Sherlock had come to think of Molly in a similar light to John and when he had stayed with her for the time it took to take down Moriarty's network, she had learnt to stop being a nervous wreck around him, which he greatly appreciated. However, she still had a habit of apologizing for everything.

"Oh, sorry...it's just...what am I doing here? Why did you ask me to come with you? I'm sure SHIELD will have plenty of competent people to help you with your experiments." she replied, not looking him in the eye. Sherlock let out a sigh and gently put his finger under Molly's chin, forcing her to look at him.

"How many times do have to tell you, Molly Hooper? You _do_ count. And besides, the people in the labs at SHIELD will either all be incompetent or unwilling to work with me." he said, giving her the look he always did when he thought she was being silly.

"How can you know that when you haven't even met any of them?" John asked in bemusement that quickly turned into amused realization when Sherlock ignored him. It was clear that his best friend wanted Molly here because he refused to trust anyone else in aiding him with his experiments and though he would never admit it, thought of Molly as a friend and wanted to have as many pleasantly familiar people with him on this trip as possible. He probably would have brought Lestrade too if he had been able to come up with an excuse for it.

"What are you so amused about, John?" Sherlock suddenly asked, noticing the look on his best friend's face. There was a slight hint in his voice of the tone that meant he was feeling genuinely vulnerable in some way. A rare sound and priceless every time.

"Oh, nothing." John replied, grinning with the knowledge that his answer would annoy Sherlock endlessly because he couldn't read what the doctor was thinking. It annoyed the detective even more when it became apparent from Molly's over-joyous grinning that she understood. Sherlock grunted in irritation and closed his eyes, retreating to his mind palace. The rest of their flight was spent in total silence. When they landed in New York City, they were driven to none other than Stark Tower. Sherlock, of course, was completely unimpressed, but John and Molly were giddy with the idea of meeting Tony Stark and the Avengers. They were escorted through the building by Agent Coulson and two other SHIELD agents. When they reached a pair of large doors, Coulson put his thumb in the scanner by the door and it opened to reveal a room at the center of which was a round table. At the table sat the people the Brits had seen so often in the papers: Thor, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanova, Clint Barton, and Bruce Banner. They looked up when the door opened. Molly suddenly felt very small. Coulson gestured for Sherlock to sit in the empty seat between Natasha and Steve and he silently obliged. John and Molly stood off to the side with Coulson. A moment later, Nick Fury appeared looking miffed.

"Where is Stark?" he demanded upon seeing that there was still an empty seat at the table. He got his answer a minute later when Tony Stark and a red headed woman came through the door.

"What the hell, Fury? I thought you were handing The Avengers Initiative off to me and I know I didn't call this meeting." the man said loudly, glaring at SHIELD's director. Then he noticed the new person at the table. "Who is Mr. Cheekbones over there and why is he sitting at my table?" Sherlock rolled his eyes at this and John and Molly thought 'oh no here we go'.

"For a man who claims to be the most up to date with the times, you are displaying a ridiculous amount of ignorance in what's happened outside America. I am Sherlock Holmes, the world's only consulting detective. Really, I'm not surprised considering you were probably too busy drinking, shagging your PA, and playing hero to read news that didn't have to do with yourself. As to your other question, I would think the answer is obvious. I have been asked to join The Avengers." The reactions to this around the room ranged from raised eyebrows to dropped jaws. The red headed woman was blushing madly and Tony looked livid. He turned to Fury slowly, his jaw set in anger.

"You invited this British asshole to join _my_ group?" he said, his tone a quiet sort of angry. Before Fury could respond, John spoke.

"Don't take what he says personally. He does that to everyone." Everyone looked over at him in surprise.

"And you are?"

"John Watson. I'm his colleague." Tony quirked an eyebrow at this before turning his attention to Molly.

"I'm guessing you're either his assistant or his girlfriend. _Or both._" It was obviously meant to be a jab at Sherlock, but the detective remained unaffected, though Molly blushed brightly and shook her head.

"Molly Hooper is my pathologist." Sherlock declared calmly, knowing that Molly was probably too nervous to introduce herself without making herself look silly. If the others in the room had seemed shocked before, they were totally surprised now.

"I'm sorry, your what?"

"My pathologist." He said it as if it was the most simple and normal thing in the world, but when it became clear that it wasn't he rolled his eyes and elaborated. "She helps me with the more scientific aspects of my cases." From the corner of his eye, he could see Bruce Banner smile at this. Obviously he appreciated having another scientific mind in the room. Sherlock socked that away for future use.

"So she is your assistant." Tony concluded with a triumphant smirk. Sherlock scowled at him.

"Not in the same way she is your assistant." he rebutted, pointing at the red haired woman who was now doing her best to stop blushing from embarrassment. Ironically, Molly was doing the same. Sherlock and Tony were staring daggers at each other until Natasha spoke.

"The tremendous amount of ego in the room is giving me a headache. Stark, shut up and take your seat. Holmes, just shut up." she snapped, earning her a look of gratitude from Fury while the others stared. Tony reluctantly took his seat, not wanting to incur Natasha's wrath further knowing she would find it very easy to jump over the table and take him down.

"Right. As you already know, this is Sherlock Holmes. He's joining The Avengers and helping us figure out what happened to those agents a month ago. Now I suggest you learn to get along with each other, as hard as that may be for some of you." The director sent glares at both Sherlock and Tony. "And Stark, before you start complaining that it's your team, try to remember that it hasn't been officially signed over to you yet. Mr. Holmes here is my last installment before I'm handing it off to you. You will also need to remember that some of the Avengers still work for me." At this, Tony seemed thoroughly put out. He wasn't going to stand for this. "Mr. Holmes, I'll let you take it from here."

"Yes, as I understand it, I am to be granted full access to your labs, equipment, and research data. You have no need to worry about providing me with lab assistants, as I have brought mine with me, or intruding upon the usual social functions of this team as I have no interest in such things." Sherlock explained cooly, clearly addressing Tony more than anyone else.

"Natasha and I have been commissioned to provide you with standard SHIELD combat training." Clint Barton suddenly spoke up calmly, though there was a hint of displeasure in his voice.

"Oh, that won't be necessary. I already know a few forms of martial arts and I'm a good shot with a gun." Sherlock drawled. He raised his eyebrows at the reaction this earned him from John. The blond's expression seemed to say 'that's not the point'.

"We'll be teaching you a lot more than that, Holmes." Natasha put in, glaring at the detective icily.

"And I suppose you are referring to military discipline and the ability to kill swiftly without a second thought for the life in your hands. Things you know quite a bit about, don't you, Ms. Romanova. Even more so than Barton." Sherlock shot back cooly. "I assure you, your lessons are unnecessary." Natasha glared at the man. John gaped.

"Sherlock, do you know who you're talking to? That's Black Widow. She could kill you with her little finger."

"I am perfectly aware of that, John. I did not mean to imply that her skills are any less than they are reputed to be. I was simply making it clear that military training is unnecessary for someone whose valued skill set is not in the area of combat. It is highly unlikely that I will be seeing any battle." This seemed to calm Natasha significantly and she was giving him a look of slight respect now.

"Just take the damn training, Holmes." Fury snapped. Sherlock opened his mouth to argue, but he was cut off. "That's an order." At this, the detective simply frowned and gritted his teeth, which obviously meant he was going to grudgingly comply. John resisted the urge to laugh. He never thought he'd see the day that Sherlock Holmes took an order from anyone.

"I am curious, Sherlock of Britain. What great skills do you possess if not those of a warrior?" Thor suddenly asked, a look of genuine curiosity on his face. Sherlock quirked a raven eyebrow at being spoken to in such a way, though it was clear to him what the Asgardian meant and he saw no reason to be snide in his answer, considering this man was not human or particularly familiar with Earth's ways.

"To put it simply, I'm very good in the thinking area." For once, there was very little condescension in the detectives voice. Something about Thor made him want to be more polite that usual. "I can understand a great deal about everything around me simply by observing. For instance, I know that you like poptarts and coffee and you have a brunette lady friend. Dr. Banner has an experiment he's eager to get back to. Agent Barton filed a long report last night. Captain Rogers had a mishap with a microwave this morning. And so on and so forth." He held back on the more in depth observations because he knew they would be deemed insensitive.

"That is an impressive gift, my friend." Thor commented, wondering what Sherlock had noticed that had allowed him to make those conclusions. The dark haired Englishman smirked. There was something deeply satisfying about being called impressive by someone who was worshiped as a god. John noticed this and shook his head.

"Don't encourage him. The last thing he needs is to have his ego stroked by you of all people." the doctor told Thor, a hint of amusement in his voice. Sherlock glared at his friend in a 'don't spoil my moment' sort of way.

"Alright, if you're quite through here, Agent Coulson will show you, Dr. Watson, and Dr. Hooper to your rooms." Fury interrupted, having grown tired of listening to these people banter. Sherlock wordlessly got up, clearly not enjoying the company of certain persons in the room and followed Coulson out, John and Molly close behind.

* * *

Within the next eight hours, Sherlock had discovered the labs and JARVIS and had figured out how most of the equipment worked. Molly got to know Tony's PA, Pepper Potts (starting with "I'm sorry Sherlock embarrassed you."). John just followed Sherlock everywhere, trying to make sure his friend didn't get himself in trouble. It was bad enough that the man whose name was on the the building didn't like the detective...at all. By the time dinner rolled around, Molly was helping Sherlock dissect a chitauri head and they were only interrupted when JARVIS spoke up.

"Mr. Holmes, your presence is requested in the dining room."

"Oh, for God's sake." Sherlock muttered, not even looking up from the high tech microscope he was fiddling with. "You can tell Mr. Stark that I don't need an apology he was obviously forced into." he snapped back at JARVIS. Molly, who was sitting next to him, frowned.

"It was not Mr. Stark who requested your presence. It was Captain Rogers, sir." This seemed to pique the Englishman's interest as he quirked an eyebrow. While it was obvious what Steve's intentions were, he found it interesting that the man would bother with him after he told the others how he felt about the social implications of being part of the group. For that reason, Sherlock decided to be whimsical and except the invitation. This could be very interesting.

"Very well. I will grant his request." he replied, standing up from the stool he had been sitting on. "Molly, please continue monitoring the progress of that sample's decomposition." With that, Sherlock disappeared from the lab, leaving Molly alone and a little confused.

"Okay..." she said softly.

Sherlock arrived in the dining room to find all of the Avengers sitting at the table, platters and bowls of delicious looking food set out, though he wasn't even hungry. Steve smiled at him when he entered and gestured to the empty seat next to him. The detective took it wordlessly.

"Mr. Holmes, I'm sorry we got off on a rough start. We-" Steve received a silent glare from Tony that convinced him to change the pronoun, "_I_ thought we should give you a proper welcome as a new member of the Avengers." Well, actually, Thor had been the one to suggest the dinner, but Steve had completed the idea, much to certain other Avengers' displeasure.

"Oh, that wasn't necessary, Captain." Sherlock responded, hiding his genuine surprise at being treated with such kindness and respect.

"I know, but I want you to feel welcome here."

"You and who else? I was under the impression the rest of you found me to be a burden. Like it or not, I am here until I am no longer needed. I see no reason for such pleasantries when it is clear by majority rule that I am not welcome." What good would it do for the others to pretend to be nice to him? He hated being lied to, especially when it was such a glaring and obvious lie.

"You're selling yourself short, Mr. Holmes. I've read about all those things you did back in England and I've talked to Dr. Watson and Dr. Hooper about you. It seems to me your a great man." Bruce suddenly spoke up and everyone stared at him, not having expected him to say anything. Sherlock understood, though. Dr. Banner knew what it was to be the odd one out, hated for something he couldn't help.

"Bruce is right. You may have been a bit of a dick earlier, but Tony had it coming." Clint put in, earning him a death glare from the billionaire. "I'd have been snippy too if he had marched in on my first day, told me I didn't belong, and called Natasha my 'assistant'." The mention of Natasha as Clint's parallel for Molly caught the detective's attention and he socked it away in his mind palace for later use.

"Why is everybody suddenly against me?" Tony grumbled before grabbing his plate of food and walking out of the dining room.

"Childish." Natasha muttered as she watched him go. "Don't pay him any mind, Holmes."

"Wasn't planning to." Sherlock replied with a smirk. He was beginning to feel a little bit less annoyed by the others.

**A/N: ...and there you have it. What do you think? Should I delete this or is it worth continuing? I've already got most of the next chapter typed up. It involves Tony taking a leaf from Loki's book and Sherlock in a jumpsuit. Anyway, I'm always self-conscious about my ability to portray Sherlock, so any feedback on that in particular would be marvelous. I appreciate every review I get. Thank you! ~T.Z. **


	2. Meet the Team Part 1

**A/N: Thank you all so much for the encouraging reviews and lovely favs and follows! Sorry for taking so long to update. Real life happened and then I was inconveniently struck by the bag of bricks that is writer's block. I really hope it doesn't come across in this chapter even though I struggled to complete it. Anyway, please enjoy.**

**WARNING: Sherlock in a tight fitting jumpsuit. Nuff said.**

Chapter 2: Meet the Team Part 1

When Molly first heard shouting, she jumped, her mind immediately thinking they were under attack. However, when she heard JARVIS answering, she realized it was Tony Stark. She found him in the shop, working on some bit of machinery with a look of angry concentration on his face. It took him a few minutes to realize she was there.

"What do you want?" he demanded, obviously annoyed.

"Well, er, is everything alright? I heard shouting." Molly replied nervously, still unable to get over the fact that this was _the_ Tony Stark.

"Your boss, boyfriend, colleague, whatever is making my life harder than it needs to be." he answered bluntly after a while. Molly waited for him to say more, but when he didn't she felt small again, like he was too important to be bothered to talk to someone like her. She was about to say 'okay' meekly and leave, but something stopped her. A strong sense of deja vu flooded her mind and she remembered all the moments like this she'd had with Sherlock before his fall. No. She wasn't going to let herself be treated like that again.

"I know you don't like Sherlock because he's rude. I understand. He's like that with everyone. He can't help being honest and open about his thoughts all the time. Sometimes he says the most awful things and doesn't think about people's feelings." This seemed to catch Tony's attention, because he looked up at Molly, though his expression did not change.

"What's he done to make you so lovestruck, then?"

"I don't...I'm not..." Molly struggled to respond coherently and she was blushing bright red. Tony laughed and set aside his tool before approaching the pathologist.

"Oh, come on. You can't fool me." Tony said, now amused rather than angry. For a moment, Molly didn't say anything. She was too busy trying to stop herself from blushing so brightly and formulate a proper answer.

"H-He's brilliant and as much as he pretends not to care about others and says feelings are a weakness, he really cares about the people who trust him and who he trusts back. I think deep down, he's a wonderful man. People just need to give him a chance to show it." Molly explained. Ever time she got to see Sherlock be clever or catch a glimpse of his heart, she felt like it was worth all the nasty things he often said to her. Tony raised his eyebrows at her. He wasn't taking her seriously. She had to fix that. "Listen, he used to treat me like a doormat. He never noticed me. Not really. I gave up hoping after a while, but I kept helping him solve his cases because I loved seeing him be brilliant and it felt good to help people. And then one day I got to see the real him. He came to me for help when his life depended on it because he trusted me and he knew that I trusted him. I helped him fake his death so that he could save his friends' lives." At the end of her little anecdote, Molly turned to leave, sure that Tony didn't really care what she had to say, but he surprised her.

"Wait. Hold up. Are you telling me this guy has a selfless streak?" he asked in disbelief. Molly nodded. "Well, that certainly explains why Fury thought he was a good idea." Tony laughed again. He was looking directly at Molly now, grinning. "The poor bastard probably doesn't even realize how lucky he is to have attracted such a nice girl." This made Molly blush again and he just kept grinning. "Tell you what, hun. I'll get off his back if he- as Thor would say- proves himself worthy of being an Avenger." At this, the pathologist beamed at him.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark. Like I said, he just needs a chance."

"Please, call me Tony." he said casually as he went to go back to whatever he had been working on before she had showed up. He may not like Sherlock Holmes, but he kind of liked this Molly Hooper. A plan started to form in his mind to help her out. A mischievous one. He was going to have a little chat with Steve later.

* * *

Sherlock was up at six in the morning by Natasha's request for a training session he did not particularly wish to attend. Now he stood in one of the many training rooms in Stark Tower, wearing a SHIELD issue training uniform that the Russian had insisted he wear ("You wouldn't want to ruin one of your nice suits, would you, Holmes?"). It was much tighter than anything he'd worn before, in fact skintight, which he didn't like ("Not much tighter than your suits, so what are you complaining about?"), but it allowed him to move very freely, which he could appreciate. Still, following orders like this was completely foreign to him and he felt like SHIELD was holding him on a leash. Thinking back on it, Sherlock couldn't understand for the life of him why people would pay Irene Alder to dominate them.

"Good morning, Agent Holmes." Natasha greeted him as she entered the room. He frowned at being referred to as 'agent', but it wasn't unexpected considering he was technically a member of SHIELD. The woman approached him and he looked her over, trying to deduce things about her that weren't already quite plain to see, but he couldn't find anything. However, that in and of itself told him a few things. She had made a conscious effort to present him with little information, which meant she had things to hide. Already, he was finding this woman very interesting.

"Good morning, Ms. Romanova." the dark haired man returned with a smirk. "Where is Barton?"

"You won't be training with him until I'm done with you." she explained, causing the detective to quirk an eyebrow at her choice of words. "Now, I want you to show me what you've got so I know what I'm working with. Are you ready?" Sherlock didn't even reply to these words as he chose to take advantage of the opportunity to surprise Black Widow. He made to strike her in the side, but her reflexes were astonishingly fast and she blocked him. "Oh good, you know about surprise." she commented before grabbing his wrist and flipping him. "But you're slow." He groaned in pain as he found himself flat on his back on the floor. Quickly, he got back to his feet and threw a punch to distract the woman while his other fist came up to chin her. She caught both hands, whirled him around, and kicked him in the back, causing him to fall to his hands and knees. "These are moves that are standard in SHIELD training. What makes you think you stand a chance against what took those missing field agents?" Sherlock grimaced at this and made get to his feet, only to find himself once again slammed to the ground. "Your opponent will not wait for you."

"I know." the man grumbled, righting himself more quickly this time and as she made to kick his legs out from under him, he jumped and landed a kick square to her chest, knocking her over, but she rolled out of it like it was nothing.

"Good. You're learning. But what can a thinking man like you do to overcome pure instinct?" In another brilliant demonstration of her superior reflexes, Black Widow moved to kick him in the stomach, he grabbed hold of her leg and she lunged, pulling both of them to ground with her straddling his chest and his arms twisting in painful positions. That was when they heard the cough coming from the door and looked over to see John Watson standing there staring at them and feeling awkward.

"Oh, hello, John. What is it?" Sherlock said casually as if he didn't have an attractive Russian woman sitting on him looking slightly miffed at being interrupted. John continued to stare for a long moment as if he wished to be Sherlock's place until his friend's voice snapped him out of it. "What is it, John? Stop ogling."

"Right. Sorry. I was just seeing what you were up to since you weren't in your room or one of the labs. What are you wearing?" The doctor appeared very embarrassed as he spoke and Sherlock rolled his eyes.

"SHIELD standard issue training uniform as requested by Ms. Romanova."

"You're taking orders now?" John asked, sounding completely flummoxed. Since when did Sherlock Holmes take orders so easily?

"I said _requested_." Sherlock insisted, trying to make it sound like he could have said no if he felt like it. His friend laughed and shook his head. Natasha rolled her eyes and got off of Sherlock.

"You need to improve your strength and speed. One hundred push ups in the morning before you get down here until you can do them in two minutes or less. Understood?" Natasha said and the Englishman nodded silently, knowing better than to argue with this woman. "Good." With that, she went out the door, leaving John to laugh at his best friend.

"Shut up." Sherlock grumbled as the two men made their way to the lift. John never thought he would get to see his friend take orders from a woman who had just completely thrashed him. Obviously he had some measure of respect for her.

When the doors of the lift opened, Sherlock and John were surprised by the sight of Molly Hooper. She was surprised to see them as well and when it registered in her brain that Sherlock was pretty much wearing a tight fitting jumpsuit, she turned bright red.

"Oh! Uh...h-hello! I was...just about to go get some breakfast. Care to join me?" It took a few words to push aside her nervousness this time and it didn't help that Sherlock was now standing very close to her in the lift. He was about to reject her request, but John had already said yes and he thought he might as well get some coffee.

* * *

After a short breakfast that was awkward for everyone except Sherlock, who didn't understand why John and Molly were acting so strangely, the three were confronted by a very serious woman named Maria Hill. She ordered them to follow her and it turned out that she was taking them to SHIELD's NYC headquarters not far from the UN building. The car ride there was uncomfortable because Sherlock was still in his jumpsuit and the three were in very close proximity. John was preoccupied with thoughts of how insignificant and weak he felt next to his best friend because that accursed jumpsuit showed off Sherlock's lean yet muscular physique and seemed to enhance his tall stature. Molly was trying desperately not to stare at her dark haired friend. Sherlock just disliked being squished between two people in the back seat of a car. Every now and then, he would catch the pathologist next to him admiring how tight his jumpsuit was. He couldn't decide whether he was annoyed or pleased by this.

When they arrived and stepped out of the black SHIELD car, they were escorted to a conference room where Thor had been waiting for them.

"You will be working with Thor during this investigation. He has the best understanding of how to find out what happened." Agent Hill explained curtly. Sherlock rolled his eyes at her.

"I am perfectly aware of those facts. You are simply saying it to fulfill your compulsive need to demonstrate your authority over someone, probably caused by long running self esteem issues. The way you speak to men you outrank suggests that this stems from many failed relationshi-" Before Sherlock could say anything further, he was slapped very hard across the face, nearly knocking him over. Agent Hill stormed out of the room, probably to report him for harassment, Sherlock noted, and his companions stared at him in shock. He'd be lying if he said he had expected that slap.

"Maria, Daughter of the Hill, is similar to the Lady Sif. It is unwise to rile her. It is like prodding a sleeping dragon." Thor commented solemnly. Sherlock straightened, rubbing his cheek and looking slightly taken aback.

"So I gather." he grumbled. "Not good?" he said, turning to John, who nodded and was visibly resisting the urge to laugh.

"Not good, Sherlock." the doctor replied.

"Right then. Down to business." With this, the three Brits took their seats at the table and Thor launched into his explanation of the situation.

"There is no trace of the missing agents that can be seen or detected by mortals or their instruments. However, I am able to sense an energy that is common on my world in the place where these agents were last seen. Most mortals would call it magic." Sherlock scoffed at this.

"I am not most mortals, Mr. Odinson." the detective drawled.

"I did not think you were, Sherlock of Britain. You must be exceptional to have been called upon by SHIELD." The Englishman smirked at this and John elbowed him in the ribs as if to say 'don't get cocky, buster'. "Nicholas Fury believes that your mind is strong enough that I may be able to train you to sense magic. I am not nearly as skilled with magic as my brother, Loki, but I possess enough knowledge to do this. Once you have been trained, you may be of great assistance in discovering what has happened." It was evident from the expression on Sherlock's face that he found this very exciting and interesting and was eager to learn this new skill.

"I accept." he said with a grin.

* * *

Since Thor insisted that John and Molly leave because the energy that he was going to expose Sherlock to was potentially harmful, the two returned to Stark Tower without their friend, whereupon they ran into Tony Stark himself.

"Oh, hello, Molly and..." the billionaire struggled for a moment to remember the doctor's name. "...John. Where's Mr. Cheekbones gone off to?" he asked as he gestured for them to join him in the sitting room.

"He's with Thor apparently learning how to see magic." John explained and a look of jealousy came across Tony's face. He had been considered before Sherlock for that privilege, but it had interfered with the function of the arc reactor in his chest, so SHIELD had had to find someone else.

"So you two are just wandering around while he gets let in on all the club secrets?" John and Molly nodded and Tony smirked. "We'll have to fix that, then. Since you and Mr. Cheekbones sort of came as a package deal, I don't see why you can't be included a little in what we do here. I'm sure you'll get along well with all of us. Even Natasha. Although, a little advice on that, Molly: don't get too friendly with Clint. And John, don't try to flirt with her. That woman will break you." John raised his eyebrows and nodded at this, already having been given a demonstration of what the Black Widow could do and having no desire to put himself on the receiving end of it.

"Um, I hope I'm not interrupting." a male voice came from the door and they all looked over to see Steve Rogers, in his uniform, standing by the door, looking nervous. Tony grinned at him and shook his head.

"Oh, no, Steve. It's fine. In fact, I was rather hoping you'd pop up."

"Okay...it's just...I think I may have broken one of the machines in the training room." the blond admitted apologetically, rubbing the back of his neck and looking at his feet. Tony laughed and waved it off.

"No biggy. Why don't you stay here and chat with Molly and John while I go and fix it." the billionaire replied good naturedly and left, leaving Steve to stand there awkwardly, looking a little confused.

"That's odd. Yesterday he was sulking and today he's all sunshine."

"Sherlock's like that too sometimes." Molly commented with a giggle. Steve smiled at her and felt a little less out of place. He could tell already that this woman was very sweet and very different from Black Widow or Maria Hill, the two women he saw the most. He liked that.

"So, how did you come to know Mr. Holmes?" he asked, taking a seat on the other side of the glass coffee table. John looked to Molly to urge her to speak first because she had known the detective the longest and he was also curious as to exactly how Sherlock had forced his way into Molly's life.

"Well, I suppose the first time I met him was when I was still an intern and he came bursting into the morgue where I work and started looking over the body I had out without any authorization or anything. He was just so brilliant that I couldn't bring myself to say no." the pathologist told them, blushing a little.

"That sounds like Sherlock, alright." John said with a laugh. "I only met him because I mentioned to my old friend Mike Stamford that nobody would want an army doctor for a flatmate. He introduced me to Sherlock."

"You're an army doctor?" Steve asked, perking up.

"Yeah, I was. Until I got shot and sent home."

"Oh, sorry." There was a sorrow in the super soldier's voice that John didn't miss. He liked how considerate this man was and he really hoped he wouldn't fall victim to Sherlock's manipulative and insulting tendencies.

"It's fine. I've been able to do good work as a civilian too." The captain's smile returned at this.

"Dr. Hooper, your job is to find out how people died, right? Forgive me, ma'am, but that seems like an unusual line of work for a nice lady like you." At this, Molly blushed brightly. It's not every day she was addressed as ma'am, let alone got to sit in Stark Tower and be called nice by Captain America.

"I like it because I feel that I'm doing something important for people." she replied softly, staring at her lap. Steve was beginning to get a general idea of the sort of people Sherlock Holmes liked to surround himself with and he found himself respecting the detective even more. He talked with John and Molly about this, that, and the other thing for a while, growing to like them very much, until Tony swaggered back into the sitting room.

"All fixed, Cap. Just remember not to throw your shield at any of the turrets until I upgrade them, okay?" he informed Steve, though his brown eyes were flitting between the soldier and Molly.

"Alright. I'll get back to it, then. It was nice to talk to you both." the tall blond gave the two Englanders a small bow and was about to turn to leave until he caught the look Tony was giving him. "Um, actually, before I go, could I have a word with you, Dr. Hooper."

"O-Okay." Molly said, blushing again. She followed the captain into the hallway and he looked nervously back at her. He tried for a moment to say to her what Tony had told him to say, but he couldn't and incoherent noises came out. Molly frowned at him. "Sorry?"

"I can't to lie to you. Listen, Mr. Stark has this plan and he thinks it's going to help you and your situation with Mr. Holmes." Molly smiled as she deduced what Steve was getting at (eight years around Sherlock was rubbing off on her).

"Oh, I see. That's very kind of you both."

"Will you have dinner with me, then?" Molly had been about to say that she doubted their efforts would be fruitful and needn't bother trying to help her, but she reconsidered with this request. It couldn't hurt to try, right? Besides, what sort of girl would refuse dinner with Captain America?

**A/N: ...and thus I will leave you to wonder what hilarity is going to take place when these two awkward and shy people team up and try to make Sherlock jealous. To those of you waiting for the action and excitement in this story: have no fear. It will come very soon. With any luck, I'll have this writer's block defeated and another chapter to you within a week. Reviews motivate me a lot and are much appreciated. Thank you! ~T.Z.**


	3. Meet the Team Part 2

**A/N: Hello everyone! The update is finally here after much battling with terrible writer's block! I'm so sorry it took this long and I can only hope that this chapter makes up for it. I would like to give a big nod to sempaiko, who made a gorgeous drawing of Sherlock in his SHIELD jumpsuit (This drawing can be found on her deviantArt and Tumblr. You should check it out. Her art is amazing.) and inspired and motivated me to keep going and get this chapter to all of you. All of your beautiful reviews and encouragement have filled me with enough gratitude to nearly explode my heart. I'm not magic. I'm just another writer trying to entertain myself and others. I really hope this chapter meets your expectations and if it doesn't, I'm sincerely sorry.**

Chapter 3: Meet the Team Part 2

When John Watson saw his best friend again, it was evening and the tall, dark haired detective looked frazzled and tired. He was accompanied by Thor, who was already calling Sherlock "friend". Thankfully, Sherlock had found the time to change into one of his normal suits before meeting John in the sitting room. He didn't know if he could handle much more feeling inadequate in one day.

"So, how did it go?" the doctor asked, eyeing his colleague wearily. He didn't want to see Sherlock suddenly collapse from exhaustion.

"Sherlock is indeed quite strong for a mortal, but it will take a few more training sessions before magic will become visible to him." Thor replied before looking to said Englishman concernedly. "Are you sure you are well?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Of course I'm fine." Sherlock answered hastily, a slight strain in his voice. Then he staggered to the sofa and sat down. John noted that he looked a little ill.

"What did you do to him?" the much shorter man demanded of the Asgardian.

"He took a great deal of energy into his body. He is still adapting to it." the Thunder God explained, causing John's look of concern to deepen.

"Where is Molly?" the detective asked, seemingly out of the blue and still sounding strained. He wasn't looking at either of the other men in the room. He was a bit out of it.

"Oh, she's out having dinner with Captain Rogers, apparently." This brought Sherlock back into focus as his head snapped over to look straight at John.

"What?! I didn't take either of them to be that sort of person." Memories of John explaining what Irene Adler had meant by 'let's have dinner' flashed through his mind.

"What? No! Sherlock, they're just going on a date, _not_ the other thing!" the doctor replied quickly. At this, Sherlock's expression became one of annoyance.

"Either way, this won't do. I need Molly to help me work on my chitauri head experiment tonight." This earned him an intrigued look from Thor and a disbelieving one from John.

"No, Sherlock. You are not allowed to interrupt Molly when she's on a date just because you need her for your little project. Can't you just let her be for once? And don't you dare think for a second of digging up dirt on Captain Rogers. She deserves someone like him and I'm not going to let you ruin it." John snapped. When Sherlock just gaped at him, he continued. "And you are in no condition to be doing anything at all tonight." Of course, having the emotional maturity of an eight year old, the detective scowled and got up to stagger towards the door.

"I told you, John. I'm fine." he insisted, ignoring his friend's statement about Molly and dating. As he reached out for the thumb scanner, his legs gave way. A second later, he found himself being held up by Thor.

"You should listen to the Son of Wat, friend." Sherlock tried to escape the Asgardian's grasp, but he failed miserably. He wouldn't have been able to do it, even if he wasn't in this weakened state.

"Let me go!" the dark haired man snarled.

"I am sorry, but I cannot do that."

"Sherlock, calm down and go get some rest. You can bother Molly when you're feeling better and she's back from her date." John attempted to bargain with his friend, but the detective would have none of it.

"I'm not a child!"

"Yes you are. And it's nap time." With this, the doctor gestured for Thor to escort Sherlock out. The Thunderer slung the man over his shoulder like a towel and went out the door.

"This is ridiculous! Put me down this instant!" Sherlock protested, though he was too weak and tired to do anything. Thor chuckled heartily as he carried the Englishman off through Stark Tower. After a while, Sherlock fell silent and wallowed in the embarrassment of being handled in such a way.

* * *

"This place has changed a lot since I was last here." Steve commented as he held open the door of an Italian restaurant for Molly. He noted that she looked very nice in her blue summer dress.

"What did it look like?" the pathologist asked as they took their seats. Steve blushed, surprised and pleased that she was interested in the time he came from.

"There was a lot of dark finished woodwork. Now everything is painted and plastic." There was a sadness in the super soldier's tone as he spoke that Molly did not miss.

"It must be hard for you, adapting to the twenty-first century. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm getting used to it, though I still feel like I got sucked into a science fiction novel." he said with a laugh. When their food came and he took a bite, he smiled. "Still as good as it was in my day." At this, Molly giggled a little and tried her pasta, finding that Steve was right: the food was superb. They talked for a while about Steve's adventures regarding modern technology and laughed together until Molly remembered the purpose of this date.

"Listen, um, if what you're trying to do works, you should be aware of the consequences. Sherlock has never been able to resist ruining my relationships and he will be rude to both of us until he gets what he wants." she explained nervously.

"I'm a soldier, ma'am. I'm used to being in the line of fire." Steve replied with a smile that she returned after a moment. She liked Steve Rogers very much already. He reminded her of John, the friend who was kind and willing to take a bullet for someone.

"I wouldn't recommend Italian for you right now, Molly. It's a bit heavy on the calories." a familiar baritone called and the two looked up to see Sherlock Holmes leaning against a nearby pillar. Molly stared at him, completely mortified. How long had he been standing there?

"Sh-Sherlock?! What are you doing here?"

"I need you to help me with that chitauri head experiment." the detective stated simply.

"What, now? Sherlock, I'm in the middle of a date. You can't just expect me to drop everything for you. We've had this conversation before. You should have just texted me and I would have come back later to help you."

"Molly, you really shouldn't be waisting your time with a ninety year old man who's still pining over a woman he last saw seventy years ago." Steve blushed brightly at this, quite embarrassed, but his tone was stern when he spoke.

"That's no way to speak to a lady, Mr. Holmes."

"You think I should speak to her differently just because she's female? How old fashioned of you." He very much felt that speaking indelicately to a woman was no different than speaking indelicately to a man. It wasn't as if women couldn't handle it. Steve glared at him, at a loss for words.

"I think Captain Rogers meant you shouldn't talk to people like that in general." the pathologist put in quietly. Sherlock's icy gaze turned to her once again and she felt small.

"It hardly matters. You seem to be forgetting that the reason I brought you with me to America was to function as my pathologist and _not_ to get overly friendly with the natives." the dark haired man sneered, approaching the table. His gait was staggered and that's when Molly noticed that her friend had been leaning against that pillar for support. She forgot about his rudeness temporarily and became concerned.

"Sherlock, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, you ridiculous woman." he snapped and a second later he lost his balance. Molly lunged to catch him. He was a lot heavier than she had anticipated and so she nearly lost balance herself, but she managed.

"You are not fine. Are you...are you under the influence of something?" she asked and he groaned.

"That would be preferable to this." he grumbled. Molly sighed and gave Steve an apologetic look, her face red from the feeling of Sherlock's long arms draped over her small shoulders.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. I should let you take care of Mr. Holmes. I'll see you around." With that, Steve shrugged on his coat and left.

"Thanks a lot, Sherlock! You ruined another one of my dates with your selfishness." Sherlock only laughed softly and allowed Molly to help him to a cab in reply. The pathologist was not amused. She hadn't expected Sherlock to come find them and muck up her date with Captain America. The idea had been that he would find out about it later. On top of that, she had no clue how he'd managed to get as far as he did in the state that was in. She got him to explain in the cab ride back to Stark Tower that Thor's little shock treatment had some nasty after effects, but he was determined to ignore them so that he could fetch her and continue his experiment. Once she'd got him to his room, she brought him some tea and told him to rest. When he objected, she promised she'd help with the experiment first thing in the morning. Molly later regretted this immensely as he slept all through the next day and chose to call upon her at midnight the following night.

"Dr. Hooper, your presence is requested in Lab B." She was awakened by JARVIS twice. Grumpy and generally not in the mood to deal with Sherlock so late at night, Molly grudgingly got dressed and went down to Lab B after the second time she was called. She found Sherlock there, twiddling away at a microscope, looking much healthier than the last time she had seen him awake.

"Morning, Molly. Some coffee would be lovely."

"Sherlock, it's the middle of the night and did you seriously have JARVIS wake me up just to tell me to get you coffee? Do you do this to John when you're at home?"

"It's not late at night, it's early in the morning. You did promise you would help me first thing in the morning. Are you going to break your promise? No, I need you for more than coffee and yes, I do sometimes ask John for coffee early in the morning." Sherlock looked up at the third sentence to give Molly the puppy eyes he so often used to get what he wanted from her. It had never failed to work and now was no exception.

"Alright, alright." Molly responded submissively, deciding that at the moment, the path of least resistance was for her. Sherlock smirked as he watched her go off to get coffee. On her way back, she walked into someone and nearly spilled the mugs of coffee she was holding. "Sorry!" she and the other person said in unison. When she looked up, she realized it was Bruce Banner. "Oh! Hello, Dr. Banner. What are you doing up so late?"

"I could ask the same of you, Dr. Hooper." he replied with a nervous laugh. "I was having trouble sleeping."

"Sherlock keeps odd hours. I'm helping him with his alien head experiment."

"Ah, I see. Would you mind if I joined you for a little while?" the man asked and Molly smiled.

"I wouldn't mind at all, though I can't speak for Sherlock. Being around him might not be good for you."

"Oh, don't worry. If the Other Guy can handle Stark, he can handle Mr. Holmes." With this, Molly reluctantly agreed and Bruce followed her back to the lab.

"Ah, Molly, coffee, thank you." Sherlock said as the pathologist handed him a mug and set her own down nearby. He spotted the other man and quirked an eyebrow. "Sleeping problem, Dr. Banner?"

"Yeah, unfortunately."

"I've read your report on the effects of gamma radiation on chitauri flesh. I was surprised to find it very well done."

"Um, thank you?" Banner wasn't entirely sure if Sherlock's statement was a compliment or not. Molly, however, knew that this was highly complimentary coming from the consulting detective and as such, she stared at him in shock. "May I ask what you and Dr. Hooper are testing?"

"We're currently exposing slices of chitauri brain to a variety of different chemicals and recording the results." Sherlock explained and with that began a long night of Molly handing the two geniuses bits of brain. She must have fallen asleep at one point, because she woke up to her text alert noise with her head on the table next to Sherlock's notebook. Both men were gone. She looked at her phone and saw the text _Gone to training session with Agent Romanova. Please continue monitoring the HCl and NaOH samples. -SH_ to which Molly sighed and rubbed her eyes. A moment later, she sent a text to John asking him where he was. He replied saying he was receiving a boxing lesson from Captain Rogers while Hawkeye watched and made a running commentary. Suddenly, Molly felt very alone and she sighed again before doing as Sherlock asked, wishing she had Pepper's number so she could text her. She had no idea that she was being watched.

* * *

Sherlock left his session with Natasha many hours later even more exhausted than the time before and his side felt heavily bruised. Fortunately, he was getting faster and had learnt that it was better to avoid the Black Widow's blows than attempt to block them. He was also getting used to his jumpsuit, which was becoming slightly comfortable. For a moment, he considered going off to see what Dr. Banner was up to (as he had come to find the scientist the most relatable of all the Avengers), but thought better of it. He had his own experiments to get back to. He texted John to ask him where he was and was told that the doctor was with Captain Rogers and Agent Barton learning a few things. Rolling his eyes, Sherlock put his phone back in the holder on the belt of his uniform and went off to the lab.

"Oh, hello." Molly greeted him as he came in, blushing at the sight of his jumpsuit. The man could tell something was off about her, but he couldn't quite place it.

"Show me the results from the past twelve hours." Sherlock commanded and she quickly handed him his notebook. That's when he noticed what was off. "Molly, what color are your eyes?" She looked at him in confusion.

"They're brown, of course."

"At the moment, they are bright green."

"What? Don't be silly." She blinked and her eyes became brown again. She looked at her reflection in the glass of the wall and frowned. "Sherlock, you might be delirious from fatigue."

"I'm fine, though I admit I'm a little hungry. Why don't you go get something?" he replied, narrowing his eyes. She smiled and nodded, glad to see that he was interested in eating for once. Sherlock watched her go and tried to put what he just seen out of his mind. There was no way Molly's eye color could change like that. The only logical explanations were that he needed food and drink after a long period of going on an empty stomach or that he was tired without realizing it. However, even at this thought, he still felt uneasy. It was distracting him from his work. Ten minutes passed and the detective began to wonder what was taking Molly so long. At the thirty minute mark, he knew something was wrong. He left the lab to look for her, hoping that she had just taken a long time to decide what to get and was only now heading back. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to be able to find her anywhere. "JARVIS, is Molly Hooper in the building?" he asked into thin air after going everywhere he could think of that she might reasonably be.

"No, sir." Perhaps she had gone out to get him food...but why would she do that? Stark employed a quality cooking staff. Maybe she was specifically getting food from that Italian restaurant she had gone to with Captain Rogers two nights ago just to rile him. Jumping on this option, Sherlock practically ran to his room to retrieve his coat (he couldn't exactly go out in the street in only his uniform without attracting attention and changing would take too much time), not even bothering to turn on the lights in his haste. He paused as he reached for the garment, suddenly realizing how un-Molly like this was. His concern doubled and he took out his phone to send her a text: _Where are you? -SH_. The screen cast an eerie glow in the room and he noticed it was unusually cold. He shrugged on his dark coat wearily and as he left Stark Tower, he ignored questions from the others. When he didn't find her at the restaurant, he sent another text: _Molly, if this is some prank the others persuaded you to participate in, it is not at all funny. -SH_ and a minute later _I need you to come back to the lab NOW, food or no. -SH_. He did not receive a reply. Upon returning to Stark Tower, he was bombarded with questions from John, who had seen him go in the first place.

"Sherlock, what the hell was that? What are you doing? Why are you ignoring me? Why are you making that face? _Answer me, Sherlock!_"

"Molly seems to have gone missing." the dark haired man replied curtly and John's expression changed from anger to worry. "JARVIS, tell the others to meet me in the conference room immediately." The doctor struggled to keep up with Sherlock's brisk pace. He hadn't seen his friend like this in a very long time.

**A/N: So, satisfactory? What do you think happened to Molly? Things are going to get a bit dark from here on out, though I will try to include humor and fluff every now and again. I'm eager to hear what you all have to say. Suggestions are welcome. Thank you so much! ~T.Z.**


	4. Unconventional

**A/N: I am so so sorry for making you all wait so long for a new chapter and rewarding your patience with such a short one. The organization of my ideas wouldn't allow for a longer update. Life has been particularly stressful for me lately and as a result, my writing has suffered. I hope this chapter is of acceptable quality. Thank you so very much for each and every review, fav, and follow. I really couldn't keep going with this without you. Some of the ideas expressed in your reviews have inspired me and I couldn't be more grateful. Please enjoy this and let me know what you think.**

Chapter 4: Unconventional

"So, Holmes, what's the big fuss about? We're all here now. Spill." Hawkeye said as he leaned back in his chair.

"Molly Hooper has gone missing." Sherlock replied grimly and a sudden stillness came over the whole room. The others stared at him in disbelief. It was clear that the man was asking them for help.

"When did you last see Dr. Hooper?" Natasha asked. While she had had little interaction with the pathologist, she knew that she was a kind, intelligent person who deserved a medal for tolerating Sherlock Holmes' on the level that she did. The SHIELD agent was not about to let any harm come to her if she could help it. Her own respect for the detective and his clear attachment to Molly added to this.

"The last I saw of her, she was going to get me coffee." There was a pause in which something seemed to click in Sherlock's brain. "Is it possible for a person's eyes to rapidly change color?" At this, Hawkeye stiffened while the others seemed noticeably disturbed.

"Very possible. Did Hooper's eyes change color?" the archer responded with a grimace.

"They briefly became green shortly before she left to get coffee. Initially, I thought that it was some sort of hallucination of mine, but now I'm beginning to think otherwise." Upon hearing this, a look of realization dawned on the others.

"Molly Hooper was taken using magic. I am sure of it." Thor spoke up and Sherlock's intense gaze snapped to him. "As I am ignorant as to the whereabouts of my brother, Loki, at the moment, it is entirely possible that he is involved."

"More than likely, it sounds like." Tony chimed in, seriousness and slight anger in his voice. Sherlock appeared to ignore this statement as he continued glaring at Thor. John watched him carefully and after a moment, he realized what his best friend must have been thinking.

"No, Sherlock, don't even think about it. It would kill you." he warned and the dark haired man's gaze went to him in a flash.

"Or it might not. I'm willing to risk it." Sherlock snapped. John had never seen his friend willing to go that far for Molly and it was odd seeing him fret over the pathologist like this.

"Excuse me, but what are you two on about?" Steve asked, looking confused.

"Thor, I need you to raise the energy dosage during our training sessions. I need to learn faster." If the atmosphere could have gotten more tense, it did. There was a long silence in which Sherlock stared intently at Thor and everyone else stared at him. Then Natasha spoke.

"Do it, Thor." The detective and the spy locked gazes for a brief moment. Black Widow understood why Sherlock wanted this better than anyone else in the room. There was still a reluctance in the Thunder God's face that was clear to the Englishman and so he stood, walked straight up to Thor and tried to be as imposing as possible (even though there was no doubt that the Asgardian could crush him with very little effort).

"Raise the dosage." he demanded, his cold silver-blue orbs glaring into Thor's soft blue ones.

"Mr. Holmes, if it doesn't kill you, it could change you forever, possibly in a very negative way." Bruce Banner suddenly spoke up.

"Shut up! I've made my choice. My pathologist was taken and could very well be dead. I intend to deal with the person who did this as swiftly as possible. The sooner, the more likely my pathologist will be returned to me. I am well aware of the risk involved in taking high levels of energy into my body and I have assessed that the benefit outweighs the risk, due to the aforementioned situation. Do I make myself abundantly clear?" Sherlock snapped furiously, speaking rapidly and animatedly. Bruce seemed somewhat taken aback by this reaction and said nothing further, only nodding in reply. John couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Be calm, Sherlock Holmes." Thor said, placing a strong hand on the consulting detective's shoulder. "I will do as you ask."

"Hold on a moment-" John began to protest again, but Tony cut him off.

"If Holmes wants to electrocute himself because it might help him save _his pathologist_, by all means let him. There isn't a single person in this room who wouldn't drop everything for Molly, so I know you'd all do the same in his place." the billionaire contended, the subtext of his words clear to pretty much everyone but Sherlock. For a long moment, John appeared to be having some sort of intense internal conflict, and then he nodded acceptingly.

"I assume you wish to begin immediately." Thor said and Sherlock gave a short nod. "I would ask that everyone else leave the room." The others reluctantly hurried out the door, but hung back to listen. "Are you ready?" they heard the Asgardian say followed by an affirmative from Holmes. For a few more minutes, they heard nothing, but then they began to be able to make out suppressed groans of pain and zaps of lightning. The zaps grew louder and louder until they heard Sherlock cry out in agony. While the others looked merely very uncomfortable at this, John was wide eyed and panicking.

"I've got to go in and stop this! He's killing him!" The former army doctor made for the thumb scanner, but Steve stopped him.

"Don't! He'll be alright. Thor knows what he's doing." the super soldier warned. John glared at him in disbelief. How could they listen to this? That was his best friend in there sounding like he was having his organs set on fire.

"Or he doesn't and Mr. Holmes could be dying." Bruce put in, reaching over and opening the door before anyone could object.

* * *

Everything was a bit of a haze when Molly Hooper woke up. She was in a very dim room and she had no idea how she'd got there. The last thing she remembered was working on Sherlock's experiment. Suddenly, a little light appeared on the other side of the small room and she quickly realized that it was a candle. A few other candles lit and now the pathologist could make out much more of where she was. A tall, dark haired man sat in a chair nearby and for a second, she thought it was Sherlock, but then she realized that it most certainly wasn't. She'd never seen anyone with eyes that green and this man had an elfin face and long, straight hair.

"Hello, Molly Hooper." he greeted her in a smooth, eloquent baritone.

"Who are you? What do you want?" the woman demanded and he laughed.

"I am Loki, God of Mischief. As to what I want, I shan't tell you. I brought you here and you shall remain as such until I no longer have need of you." Noticing the anxious look on her face he added, "Do not fear. I have no intention of harming you, though if you provoke me, I may." Molly knew right away from his name that this was not a man to be trifled with. This was Thor's brother, the man who tried to take over the world only two years ago. "Now, the mortal man whom you serve, Sherlock Holmes. Tell me about him." For a minute, Molly only stared at Loki, unsure of what to do. She didn't want to pull a Mycroft and spill everything to such a dangerous man, but she also did not want to rile him in any way. Feeling brave, she compromised.

"Only if you tell me what you want with me." This earned her a dangerous smirk from the Trickster. He chuckled at her and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"A rather bold move on your part, mortal, but clever. I shall reward you." he replied. "You are of value to Sherlock Holmes. You are one of the most useful tools in his kit. One he would very much prefer not to do without. He will come looking for you. When he does, I will ensnare him as I did you and he will work for me." Suddenly, Molly remembered standing in the lab, when this strange man appeared and put his hand over her heart. He had laughed as he told her she was an easy target, wearing such a big heart on her sleeve. Then she had blacked out.

"What do you need him for?"

"I am hiding. I need him to help me deal with the threat I am hiding from."

"Why not just ask him? He's a detective, you know. He solves problems for a living."

"For the same reason I didn't just ask four SHIELD agents to help me. There is a little problem with willingness. After that little attempt to take over Midgard, I have been branded a demon and only a fool deals with a demon." At this, the whole reason she and her friends had been brought to New York was laid out for her to see. Loki had taken the missing agents and they were now his puppets. Molly wished she could tell everyone what was going on, but of course, that was impossible. She could feel her phone missing from her pocket, so it seemed he knew about mobiles.

"What are you hiding from?"

"ENOUGH!" Loki growled abruptly. "I agreed to entertain you but once, do not press your luck with me, mortal." With that, the emerald eyed man stood from his seat and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind himself.

* * *

The door of the conference room slid open to reveal Thor standing on one side of the room, aiming his hammer at Sherlock, who was on his hands and knees on the floor, as magical lightning arced from the weapon and hit him. He was clearly in excruciating pain, cries of agony escaping him relentlessly.

"SHERLOCK!" John bellowed and the dark haired man opened his eyes to look up at his best friend. Arcs escaped from the cold blue orbs, making them look even more terrifying than before. A mere moment later, Thor cut off the flow of electricity and Sherlock's body collapsed, shaking. John rushed to his side and turned him over on his back, putting his fingers on the side of his neck to feel his pulse. It was racing. Sherlock's eyes rolled back, closed and he grew still. "Sherlock, can you hear me?! Oh God, oh God, oh God..." It took a moment to confirm that Sherlock was still breathing, but had completely passed out.

"Son of Wat, please be calm. Your friend will be well. He is only in need of rest." Thor assured John, who was livid. Tony, Clint, and Steve were looking upon the consulting detective's limp form with a new respect. They'd never seen anyone with a normal body handle the Thunderer's power like that. Most people would have been unconscious at the first few bursts.

"No, you nearly killed him! It's not alright!" John snapped. Natasha approached the doctor, also kneeling beside Sherlock and looked him straight in the eyes.

"He will be fine, Dr. Watson. I will see to it myself." she told him and he fell silent, not having expected this from Black Widow. "Now, go get some rest yourself." John opened his mouth object, but her gaze hardened. "That's an order." It was a swift reminder that she outranked him in SHIELD status, but he was still hesitant.

"Doctor." Steve called and the Englishman finally gave in, though he didn't want to leave his friend's side. He followed Captain America and Bruce Banner out of the room. A moment later, Sherlock's eyes opened slightly and he began moving a little.

"Shit, man. You've got the fortitude of a damn bull." Tony commented as the detective shakily pulled himself into a sitting position.

"Indeed. You are a most exemplary Midgardian, Sherlock Holmes." The blond man put in with an earnest smile.

"Can you walk?" Natasha asked. Sherlock attempted to get to his feet, but he was too shaky and nearly fell. The woman caught him and kept him on his feet, allowing him to drape his arm around her shoulder and use her as support. "I'm taking him to his room to rest. Stark, do something useful like get medical equipment to monitor him and keep him stable. Barton, report to Fury, tell him what's going on." She left out Thor, always having felt weird about ordering him around. The other two men didn't object and Natasha helped Sherlock stagger out of the conference room. As they went through the halls of Stark Tower, the woman suddenly asked him a question that had been eating away at her for a while. "This pathologist, you owe her a debt, don't you?" It came out sounding more like an observation than a question. Sherlock looked down at her for a long moment as if he couldn't decide how to answer, but then he spoke in a soft rasp.

"Yes. I owe Molly Hooper my life. How could you tell?"

"Your behavior, because I am the same with Barton." The pale Brit seemed intrigued by this, but shook his head.

"Not true. You love him." He had seen the signs, the way her pupils dilated when Clint spoke to her or came particularly close to her. Natasha scowled at Sherlock in response.

"Love is for children. Hawkeye is my colleague and I owe him a life debt. That is all." At this, Sherlock found his respect for this woman grow even more. She was suppressing sentiment and he could see in the way she held herself and treated those close to her that it was to save herself and others the pain and destruction the emotion brought. He...sympathized with her. It felt strange. He did not reply to her the rest of the way to his room. When they got there, Sherlock flopped onto his bed with a groan and fell asleep seconds later.

**A/N: Again, I'm sorry for the shortness. I hope I didn't make anyone OOC (I'm terribly self conscious about that). What did you think of the Molly and Loki section? Surprising? If I do things right, the story will start moving at a faster pace. Please share your thoughts on everything. It's of great help to me. Thank you! ~T.Z.**


	5. A Different Direction

**A/N: Hey there, everyone! I'm so sorry this took ages to update! I had some really bad writer's block for this fic and I was spending a lot of time on _The Balancing Act_, my other Sherlock WIP. Thank you all so much for your reviews/favs/follows and patience! I never in a million years expected this fic to get the reaction it has. I'm thoroughly humbled. For those of you who don't know, there is now a WIP section on my profile that lets you know how my writing is progressing. There is now a url for sempaiko's beautiful jumpsuit pic on my profile as well for those of you who haven't seen it, but would like to. Anyway, please enjoy and let me know what you think!**

Chapter 5: A Different Direction

When Hawkeye reported to Director Fury about what had happened with Sherlock, he had not entirely expected the reaction that he got. Fury was, well, furious. He immediately ordered Sherlock Holmes to cease his reckless behavior and focus on the reason he'd come to America, saying that SHIELD would take care of investigating Molly Hooper's disappearance. Not surprisingly, however, this angered the consulting detective.

"He thinks I care about his orders, but he is sorely mistaken." Sherlock growled to John as he lay in his bed with a few machines and an IV hooked up to him. He'd only regained speech that afternoon after waking up the morning after the Thor incident to find his body almost completely numb. It would have been hilarious for the others were it not for the seriousness of the situation. "Why can't he see that the missing agents case is clearly linked to Molly?"

"It is?" John asked in surprise and Sherlock gave him a withering look.

"Obviously."

"So that's the bigger reason why you were so eager to get yourself electrocuted? How's that working for you?"

"Well, actually. I can feel myself growing stronger almost by the minute." Sherlock replied matter of factly (ignoring John's implication that he thought the case more important than Molly). It was true. His health was rapidly improving, in fact, it seemed that it was going beyond that. He felt stronger and more alert than he had ever felt in his life. Being attached to all this medical equipment and having to remain in bed was frustrating. "I see no reason why I shouldn't be allowed to get back to work. You've been monitoring me for the past few days and I haven't shown any sign of dying." John was about to reply to this when Sherlock abruptly sat up straight and the doctor frowned.

"Sherlock, what's the matter?"

"Thor is coming." There was a grin on his face as he said it, the grin that meant something new and fascinating had come up. It only served to confuse John further.

"Sorry, what? How do you know?"

"I can feel it like a tingling under my skin. I can sense the energy that emanates from him. It's getting closer. I can smell it now. It's like static and something not from this world. John, this is brilliant!" The detective sounded like an excited eight year old, which was something the blond was entirely used to. Just as predicted, Thor came through the door a few moments later.

"How goes your recovery, friend?" the Asgardian asked kindly. Sherlock gave him a look of pure jubilation.

"Amazing! I've never felt better in my entire life!" he replied exuberantly. "John, detach me from these ridiculous machines! I'm ready for work!" Due to surprise, the doctor did not react to this command at first, but then he hurriedly did as he was asked upon being shot a glare from his friend.

Free, Sherlock jumped up from his bed and went to change, only to find himself on a treadmill a half an hour later attached to a new set of machines with all the Avengers present. Tony and Bruce were both looking at computer screens with increasing fascination.

"You took a huge gamble, man, but boy, did it pay off. You're nearly on par with Cap in terms of physical fitness and you have a slight residual energy coming off of you, the same weird kind that registers on Thor." Tony commented, pointing at the screen in front of him that showed Sherlock's heart rate, blood pressure, and lung efficiency.

"The magic has transformed him into the echo of an Asgardian." Thor explained. They could all see how absolutely thrilled Sherlock was and John frowned. The last thing his best friend's ego needed was for him to be told he was a demi-god.

"Right, now all we need to do is figure out the horrible side affects before bad things happen." Dr. Banner put in, crossing his arms. They all knew why he was saying this. His own experience with the effects of powerful energies on the human body spoke volumes. "Mr. Holmes, could you start running now?" Sherlock did as he was prompted and began to move faster than his slight jog from before. It seemed effortless to him. His eyes were bright with excitement as he ran faster and faster until he was going flat out. Blue sparks began flying from the equipment and the machines malfunctioned. The others started shouting at him to stop, but it took him a moment to register and when he did, he jumped off the treadmill. All the wires connected to him detached and then the room went dark.

"JARVIS!" Tony called and a few moments later, the lights were back on and they could see the repressed expression of intense pain on Sherlock's face.

"Sherlock, are you alright?" John asked, frowning. The detective managed an eye roll before getting out a few words.

"I need...a ground...anything...just.."

"A what?" John, Steve, and Thor looked confused, but the others were already frantically searching the room for something. Sherlock shot his best friend a typical 'your being stupid' glare, but it disappeared when the dark haired Englishman had to stagger over and use a counter to support himself. "Sherlock?!" The doctor made to approach him, wearing a deeply concerned expression.

"STAY BACK IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE!" Sherlock growled and a few thin arcs of blue electricity danced over the surface of his body, making static noises. Suddenly, Natasha paused and turned to Thor.

"Thor, if he grabs your arm and releases his built up energy into you, will you be alright?" she inquired.

"It would sting at most." the Asgardian replied with a shrug. Before anyone could say anything further on the matter, Sherlock took a shaky step toward Thor and grabbed for his arm. The detective gritted his teeth and Thor looked to be in a tad bit of discomfort from the magic flowing like electric current into his bicep. When he was done, Sherlock wobbled to a nearby chair and sat down, looking exhausted. The awkward silence that followed was broken when Clint spoke up.

"I think we found one of those horrible side effects you were talking about, Dr. Banner." This earned him 'no shit' glares from everyone except Steve and Thor.

"If I had to guess, I'd say Mr. Holmes' fast heart rate generated a current." the scientist commented, crossing his arms. "It would be a bit of an understatement to say that that's very interesting."

"Not to mention a cause for concern. It would put a bit of a damper on my day if the Human Generator here were to- I don't know- accidentally destroy Stark Tower." Tony put in and Sherlock managed to find the will in his exhaustion to look over and glower at the billionaire. He couldn't exactly promise such a thing would never happen, but it riled him that Tony had so little confidence in him.

"I'll be fine." the detective rasped. "I just need to adapt." This earned him an amused look from Natasha. She liked it when he defied Tony.

* * *

Molly Hooper had no clue how long she'd been trapped in this room, but it felt like ages. She hadn't heard from Loki since their first meeting, but she'd spent a long time sitting in the dark, thinking about everything he'd said to her. Because of this, Molly found she couldn't hate the man. He wasn't the monster the media portrayed him as. He was like Sherlock had been just before the Fall: sad and terrified because he knew that if he didn't reach out for help, he was going to die. However, his methods were incredibly misguided, and Molly thought that perhaps this was all the result of something that had happened to him long ago in Asgard. She wished she had a book on Norse gods and some light to read it by.

Eventually, Molly came to the realization that she wanted to help Loki. Not in the way he wanted help, of course, but in her own kind way.

She opened her eyes when she heard the sound of a candle lighting and soft light played on her eyelids. Loki had come to see her again.

"Hello again, Molly Hooper. For a mortal, you have been handling the situation exceedingly well. But then again, you aren't like most mortals, are you? And most mortals have noticed. It is only the exceptional ones that truly acknowledge you and it has always been that way. Ever since you were a little girl. Do not look at me like that. You know full well that I know almost everything about you. I have been in your mind." the trickster began and suddenly, Molly turned bright red from embarrassment. Loki laughed and grinned. "Oh yes, I know that you were raised alone by your father, that he died when you had just become a young woman, that you lost most of your friends three years ago because they so completely believed a lie, but most importantly of all, I know that your heart belongs to Sherlock Holmes."

"You...you make that sound like some dire weakness to be exploited." Molly replied, trying to regain some of her composure and self confidence.

"That is because it is, Midgardian." Loki said it as if he were explaining a difficult concept to a small child. The pathologist resented this. She was an intelligent, grown woman and after years of being put down by Sherlock, she wasn't going to let Loki walk all over her like the detective had, especially given she was not head-over-heels in love with this man.

"No, you're wrong. It's a strength." The God of Mischief scoffed at this.

"You talk like Sigyn."

"Who's Sigyn?" The question seemed to discomfort Loki and that brought Molly more confidence, but the Asgardian was by no means going to let her get to him so easily.

"An Asgardian whose loyalty and love only bring her suffering in the end."

"Is she someone you love?" Molly asked softly and this hit a raw nerve with Loki. He gave her the most terrifying glare she had ever seen and grabbed her by the neck to hoist her up and push her against the wall.

"You speak too freely, Molly Hooper." Loki snarled. "Have you forgotten that you are my prisoner and are not in a position to be so inquisitive? I could crush you with ease, you stupid, simpering mortal! You know nothing of me!" Molly tried to beg him to stop and let her go, but all that came out was choking noises. Her brown eyes were wide with panic and pleaded for what she could not say. Seeing this, Loki's anger suddenly evaporated at he released her. She fell to the ground, coughing and clutching her throat. The trickster turned his back to the pathologist and spoke softly when her coughing died down. "Sigyn is my wife." he began solemnly. Molly let out a little gasp at this revelation. "And she loves me more than I will ever deserve. You and she would be fast friends." A long silence followed which the brunette spent thinking of the best way to respond.

"Where is she now?"

"Hidden in a place where my enemies cannot touch her. I have no desire to lose the only thing I have left. The only person I truly love." Loki confessed, turning to look at his captive with sad emerald orbs. Molly understood far better now. He couldn't hurt her because she was an echo of his wife, whom he held so dear. She sympathized with this man and she saw that he had a great deal in common with Sherlock. It gave her hope that maybe the detective really did love her deep down in some way. "I am done with you for now." Loki stated tersely before leaving her in the darkness once again.

* * *

The first beams of daylight were shining over the horizon as Sherlock, John, and Thor's helicopter landed at the SHIELD base. They'd been ordered to report in the middle of a training session with Natasha, which immediately put Sherlock in a foul mood. He wore an armband that acted as a dampener/absorber for any energy that might emanate from him uncontrolled. Tony had whipped it up overnight in a desperate attempt to bring himself peace of mind, saying that Sherlock was potentially more destructive to Stark Tower than the Hulk.

The consulting detective come 'quasigod' (as Clint Barton had dubbed him) was not the only one in a foul mood when the three men met Director Fury in the aircraft hanger. Said director looked like he wanted to punch someone square in the nose.

"Holmes, what the hell were you thinking!? You do not take actions like that without requesting approval from SHIELD first, do you understand!?" Fury barked, but Sherlock didn't so much as blink.

"Yes, Director, but it hardly matters because unless you allow me to continue investigating Molly Hooper's abduction, you will find your ranks minus a Sherlock Holmes."

"That would be very unwise, brother." an unpleasantly familiar voice called and Mycroft Holmes came into view, sauntering towards them, twirling his umbrella. Sherlock rolled his eyes. "We can't possibly let you get mixed up in anything that is a potential Loki situation."

"Hello..." John greeted, a warning in his tone letting the British government official know that he was entirely on Sherlock side for this one.

"You are the brother of Sherlock?" Thor asked with a frown.

"Yes, Thor, this is my pompous older brother, Mycroft." Sherlock answered, voice dripping with disdain. Thor eyed Mycroft in interest. "What are you here for? Come all this way just to bully me into staying with SHIELD?"

"That's a rather harsh way of putting it, don't you think? Besides, I was curious about your latest near death experience. Has some drawbacks I see. I take it that bracelet is the little piece of Stark Tech that's stopping you from accidentally taking out half the Manhattan grid."

"Today is not the day to needle me. Either you and your new best friend allow me to carry on, or I'm leaving your not so secret, secret agency." Sherlock hissed.

"We can't-" Fury started, but the consulting detective immediately cut him off.

"That settles it, then." Sherlock didn't hesitate to rip the SHIELD symbols off the shoulders of his jumpsuit and toss them aside. Without another word, he and John strode away. Fury was about to give an order to stop them from leaving the building, but Thor put a hand on his shoulder.

"You must let him do this." the Asgardian told the other two men seriously. "He is much like Loki. Do not make the same mistakes I did or he will go down that same path." For a moment, Mycroft just stared at him. Very very rarely did anyone try to give him advice. Then again, he could hardly expect Thor to have a full understanding of who he was and why that didn't often happen.

"And what, pray tell, mistakes did you make?"

"I did not listen. I did not try to understand. I was too concerned with my own goals." Mycroft's eyes narrowed at this and he didn't speak for a few moments.

"Very well, Mr. Odinson. I shall consider it. Good day." With that, he and Fury went on their way.

* * *

"For someone who doesn't really hold a lot of power by himself, that was a pretty ballsy move. Kudos." Tony Stark said as he poured himself a whiskey.

"So, what's your plan now?" Steve asked as sat down on the couch next to Clint.

"Yeah, SHIELD's going to come after you. They don't just let people leave, especially not like that." Bruce put in. Sherlock smirked and gestured to Natasha.

"Ms. Romanova and I worked it all out. It's quite simple, really. Child's play to anyone with our resources." This was met with raised eyebrows. "She knows SHIELD inside out. They trust her and she would find it very easy to lead them off my scent while I continue on in the search for my pathologist. Stark, tremendous hacker as he is, could make things even more difficult for them. Meanwhile, the rest of you can play dumb and unhelpful." Sherlock explained as if it was all incredibly obvious. "See? Simple."

"And what will you do when we've got Dr. Hooper back?"

"At that point, I'll have also solved the missing agent problem, Fury will be in a forgiving mood, and I'll be able to return to England."

"I like the sound of that." Tony commented with a grin. This was going to be very interesting.

**A/N: There you have it. Sherlock gets a superpower and more of Loki's situation comes to light. I wish I could have made this a tad longer, but my brain said no. I will try to update more quickly this time, but I can't guarantee anything. I wish I could bake cookies for all of my reviewers. I owe you guys so much. ~T.Z.**


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